The Islamic community in Croatia is the one and only community that brings together all Muslims in Croatia regardless of their differences and is the only one called upon to interpret the faith and religious rules, the leadership of the Islamic community in Croatia told Hina in a statement.
"Both the Muslims and society benefit from this because correct and authoritative interpretations of the faith are clearly separated from erroneous ones. This is recognised by both our faithful and society at large ," the statement said.
In his Bayram message to the Islamic community in Croatia, the head of the community, Mufti Aziz Hasanovic, called on the faithful to build their faith and the society they live in.
Goran Goldberger, a sociologist of religion who studies the reception of the Islamic community, says that the Muslims in Croatia have a regulated legal status and are well integrated into Croatian society, while in Western societies Muslims face discrimination, marginalisation, inequality and social exclusion.
The Croatian parliament recognised Islam in 1916. The leadership of the Islamic community in Croatia is under the authority of the leadership of the Islamic community in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in 2002 it signed an agreement of common interest with the Croatian government. Its mission is to spread and strengthen the Islamic faith and conduct religious, educational, cultural and humanitarian activities.
According to the 2011 census, about 63,000 citizens of Croatia, or 1.5% of the population, identified themselves as Muslims. Most of them are ethnic Bosniaks (28,000), followed by ethnic Croats and ethnic Albanians (9,500 each).
Members of the Islamic community are extremely pleased with their status in Croatia, community leaders said. Sociologist Goldberger noted that the only problem was lack of places of worship and cemeteries for Muslim believers.